Ballad of the Four Founders
by vilyasthrall
Summary: A piece I did in ballad-style a few years back about the founding of Hogwarts. I own nothing.


A/N My own little twist on the founding of Hogwarts- poetry style!

I wrote this several years ago now, but it's still the best poem I've written.

Introducing my OC, the centaur Rowan Gale- a bit different to the centaurs of Hogwarts,

but I figured this was in the far past.

If it doesn't make any sense, good. I've never been able to make sense out of ballads

anyway. :~)

Two best friends striking out in the morning

Striding up the northern-most path,

Godric Gryffindor in a scarlet robe,

Travelling together, two lords.

Godric Gryffindor had a gilded sword,

A bright ruby as its pommel.

Rowan Centaur in his shining armour,

Laden with knives as sharp as gale-wind,

And whilst Rowan's blade was rather plain,

Within, a secret flame burnt bright.

Companions in battle, carrying sheathed swords,

Proceeding into all darkness,

Each comforted have a true friend there,

On their righteous march towards the north-west.

They travelled through the hills, valleys and dales

Towards their journey's final end,

Though they knew not what it was, or really

Where in the land it could be found,

So they fought the monsters yet unfought

In hidden caves unnamed by men

And rescued those devoid- forlorn -of hope,

Whilst all the while they journeyed on

To realise what fate had in store for them,

To show him they were not afraid

Of any of the things he might offer them,

Whether it be gory whelps or flame

In the hope to tempt them from their path,

For as their strength, they had each other.

But far too quickly those bright years passed,

Those ruled by the sword and with hope,

Until only dreams unfulfilled were left

And thence they found a foe turned friend:

Slytherin his name, and bright was his face.

Through many labours Gryffindor

Found his dreams close to fufillment anew,

For friends they were, and old ties tore,

And he was mindless of his old friend's grief.

Then alone were Slytherin and Gryffindor

For Rowan left, for his friend's sake.

Friends without friend, now not carefree

And though they stayed friends, a rift was formed

A silence welled which could not be repelled.

Then fortunes changed when along the glen road,

Who should they meet but two fair ladies?

A dark-haired beauty, crest of an eagle,

Wisdom abounded, Ravenclaw.

A mirthful lady, frequented by badgers,

Of greatest merit, Hufflepuff,

Who had learned much that Gryffindor had not.

These four fell to conversation,

And so it transpired they were the same,

They shared the same dream: Glory, fame,

To teach and be taught, to show and be shown,

To plan and to build a great school

Within which the pupils could be housed safely

In both sickness and health, bad times and good.

Together they set off and travelled afar,

Seeking to realize their dream

So that at long last, after everything,

Surrounded by forest in glen

The castle they built might stand tall and proud

In a dell by a lake they stayed.

For at last the dream they had held within

Was finally to be realized.

And so on the longest day, they held their wands

And spoke an incantation that

Hung in the clouds, in the bowels of the earth,

A spell that forméd, made and changed

Until all their work was done, their souls spent,

And they fell to the floor with sighs and grunts.

Their, rising like a beacon from the land,

Looking gentler than a doe,

She soared as graceful as a swan in flight,

Her slender towers trapped sun's rays,

Lighting walls with many secret passageways.

And alcoves, at that moment,

Rang, whilst flying birds and insects hung there

Seeing now towers abounded!

And within it all lay, labyrinth-like,

Passages, rooms, stairways, more,

With walls that were doors and doors that were walls,

House-rooms, class rooms, offices,

Corridors with steps that sunk down- trapdoors-

And brass fingerplates upon every door.

To people the place, to overlook doors

Were statues: carved, charméd and cleaved,

With two by the gates, great blocks of stone,

And one carved with wings for their door.

A pack of jade wolves and grinning gargoyles,

And suits of pale armour that moved.

There were three sphinxes with bright amber eyes

That gave questioning glances to fools,

Whilst down in the cellars and out in the grounds,

Infesting it, a range of pests,

Mice six feet in length, with one foot of claws,

Nest of doxies, burrows with fairies,

More gnomes than a jarvey could ever eat, and

A solitary augery pining away.

That was what Godric, what he had pined for,

Had wished for, had hoped for, had dreamed

Along with his new friends- out with the old!

No more travelling adventures;

He settled down to talking and eating,

A quiet life, seated in a chair.

To eat and to stuff, to talk and to chat,

To sit in chairs 'til old and fat.

Was that what he wished for, he constantly thought,

As he saw his old-new friends again.

He paced and he ran, he duelled and he taught.

Out with the old, in with the new!

But a memory, as plain as can be,

Always drew his gaze back over the hill.

Slytherin surly, Hufflepuff bubbling,

Rowena a mother, that's great?

Gazing from windows, the others he shunned

As he fell alone again and again.

Meanwhile, Salazar, always pushing for more,

Stirred up resentment more and more,

His call a rallying point and a test,

Rights for the pure-blood, bugger the rest!

And just as it was too late and all else was lost,

In galloped Gale, soaked to the skin,

The stormy, wet, windy night that it was.

To Gryffindor, his friend, he said,

"I call to you, brother, for your ears alone,

May friendship be broken and old trusts renewed!"

And up vaulted Gryffindor, his eyes all ablaze.

He and the others turned on the snake.

He drew his sword and the other his wand,

But Godric was faster and said,

"Begone ye, foul demon, who wormed in our trust

For, from this moment, we banish thee.

Come not to these doors, for they will be shut,

Your house will remain though, because of our trust."

And then thus it was that Salazar left,

The halls of the castle were bright,

For the torches and fires burnt brightly again

And at long last they shook with joy,

For it lit a good Christmas for all to see

That Rowan and Godric were family.

A/N: If you survived that, well done!


End file.
